Max Scherzer and Nationals head coach Dave Martinez have a decision to make Sunday.

Does Scherzer start Washington's final game of the season, a game which is entirely meaningless to the Nationals, who have been eliminated from the playoff race for weeks now, or does he sit and give youngster Eric Fedde the start?

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The reason they have to ask this question is simple: the Nationals are playing the Rockies who currently have a one-game lead on the Dodgers for the National League West division. It is very logical that lead could still be one game come Sunday, or the race could even be tied.

The Giants and ace lefty Madison Bumgarner had to make a similar decision. According to Dodgers reporter David Vassegh, Bumgarner decided to move his start back two days to Thursday so he could face the Dodgers and possibly hand them a loss to be an obstacle in their path to a divisional title.

Bumgarner isn't going to make Los Angeles' job easy. Scherzer has the option to make the Rockies' job just as hard because he is one of the best two starters in the entire NL. He most likely gives Washington a better chance to win than Fedde.

Again though, Scherzer and Martinez have to decide whether the three-time Cy Young winner should start with virtually nothing to gain. A win likely won't help Scherzer in the Cy Young race, nor would more strikeouts.

The only thing Scherzer could be pitching for would be the possibility of breaking the Nationals' single-season strikeout record. According to Opta, Scherzer is five strikeouts away from Pedro Martinez' strikeout record he set with the Expos in 1997 (305). Scherzer has set the single-season record for K/9 this season at 12.24.

Is that enough motivation for Scherzer to pitch Sunday? Maybe. However, as Bumgarner shows, teams and players often do care about factoring into playoff races. They can't necessarily earn a playoff spot, but they can determine who earns them in their own way.

In the 1999 movie For Love of the Game, Billy Chapel (Kevin Costner) had a decision to make. He could have retired and decided not to pitch one last meaningless game at the end of a season.

But as his manager said, "We're not laying down, we're not going to be a red carpet to the series for these guys." Chapel then went out and tossed a perfect game and kept the Yankees from winning their division.

Scherzer can make the same impact. If he beats the Rockies, he could prevent them from winning their division. But will he decide to do that? We'll have to wait until Sunday to find out.